The Issue Of Student Loan Debt: College Should Be Free For Everyone

Student loan debt is now the second-highest consumer debt category, only behind mortgage loans. According to Pewresearch.org, in 2019, Americans currently own 1.5 trillion of student loan debt, and this is spread over 45 million borrowers. This is a consequential problem for a lot of students and their families. A lot of people are considering going to college, but are worried about how they are going to pay for it, and a lot of them might even drop out because of the huge burden of tuition. Our education system has become more about making money off students and their loans than providing them a good education and a degree. Free education would greatly improve our society, and although there are many reasons why college education should be free, today I’m only going to focus on three in particular.

First, I want you to know students work hard to support themselves while going through college. However, this can be very detrimental as the students then get too little time to study. Free education would allow students to focus more on their studies than about going to work for a living. If a student in America is trying to work 20 hours a week to support themselves, they not only have more time to study, but he also has time to volunteer and get back to their community. According to a study in 2016, students who work less than 10 hours a week, reported significantly higher results in college than students who work more than 10 hours a week. This, unfortunately, results in students dropping out of college. Free tuition means that students are more encouraged to focus on their school then rather focus on their side job. And although student paying more attention to their studies is a good reason why college should be free, is not the only reason. This brings me to my next point.

Free college would allow more low-income students to attend and give them a chance to give them a new career and decrease the gap between social classes. Going to college isn’t just only for students who want to become scientists, doctors, and lawyers, but also for much needed other professions like car technicians, electricians, and carpenters.

Finally, what if I told you that we used to invest in debt-free college to begin to? Up until the 1900s, most universities were free or had only small entree fees for tuition. This was so that everyone had an opportunity to advance in society and make their country a better place. There’s a reason why all the best engineers, scientists en technology came out of European countries, for education is highly valued. Think about Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein, and Alan Turing.

The point of free education is to broaden the access to those who don’t have it now, as well as broaden the possibilities for those that have. As you can see there are many reasons why education should be free, and these are just a few. In conclusion, if students weren’t so worried about paying their way through school, they would have better grades. Secondly, free education could close the gap between social classes. Finally, college education should be free because it’s possible and it was once common. Our society requires an economic and industrial revolution, and you’re the ones that can make a change!